The importance and benefits of business management skills have been documented by numerous authors and scholars across the world. Despite this coverage, the topic of business management has received little attention and appreciation within the profession of optometry. Furthermore this topic does not enjoy literature coverage within this profession. This deficiency in literature and interest questions the business skills optometrists have to manage their practices. The aim of this study was to determine whether Optometrists possessed the necessary business skills to efficiently and effectively manage their practices. This study was conducted on Optometrists in private practice in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Data was collected through a web based questionnaire developed by the researcher. A Cronbach’s alpha value of more than 0.7 was consistently obtained from this research instrument. A sample of 175 optometrists was randomly drawn from a sample frame with a total target population of 300 optometrists. Following a low response rate (2%) a non-probability sampling approach which involved electronic and manual distribution of the questionnaire to all 300 elements in the sampling frame was used to maximize the response rate. A total number of 102 responses were received which constituted a response rate of 34%. Majority (58.42%) of the respondents were females and 41.58% were males. Of those who responded, 37% were optometrists for 1-5 years and were in private practice for the same period. The results indicated that optometrists had average business management skills. The results further indicated that majority of the respondents (64) acquired their business management skills by learning on the job. The results also showed that the common challenges optometrists faced were: managing accounts receivables (34.62%), generating sales (33.33%) and practice location (22.22%). Respondents were also asked to rate the Quality of Undergraduate Optometry Practice Management course the results of which were overwhelmingly negative. The findings of this study were that optometrists do not have the necessary business management skills to manage, grow and sustain their practices. This study can benefit all stakeholders in optometry by identifying the management gaps and challenges that need to be addressed. This study recommends that these gaps and challenges can be addressed through a review of the continuous professional development system, an introduction of short courses in practice management, stakeholder meetings focusing on the review of undergraduate practice management modules, and the development of postgraduate courses in practice management. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Finding ways to deal with complex situations has been a long issue of interest by researchers and scholars alike. Researchers and scholars have provided the strategy community with an insightful understanding of the phenomenon of complexity. The traditional understanding of complexity in strategic management, mainly coming from the design school of strategy, has given way to modern complexity perspectives. These perspectives are from Chaos Theory, Dissipative Structures and Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). Complexity sciences seek to look at the challenges associated with knowing and understanding the unknowable by focusing on the interactions in complex systems. The properties of complex systems in turn provide lessons that can be transferred to the field of strategic management in a form of approaches to deal with complexity. The CAS metaphor will be used as a model to contrast the approaches in current use by the organisation of study in strategic management. Insights from studies on complex systems points to a need for constant exploratory studies in organisations to determine how well organisations are responding to complexity. The aim of this study is to explore approaches that inform thinking and management practices in strategic management by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (department) in view of complexity - increasing difficulties to understand the world. Firstly, results of the study are intended to contribute to understanding how insights arising from the study of complex systems, in the world, are being used to rethink and design government departments – public sector organisations - systems and strategic approaches, so that they are more flexible, adaptable and able to respond efficiently and effectively to changes in larger environment. Secondly, where the study finds that the current complexity approaches of the department are not informed by the latest thinking on complexity, recommendations are made on ways the department can improve its approaches. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.